Anthony Colwyn was a bandleader, jazz trumpeter, singer, dentist and hereditary peer who spoke up regularly in Parliament about the importance and the value of jazz, and did so with knowledge and passion. He died earlier this month.
Nigel Tully writes: My friend and fellow-bandleader Anthony Colwyn died two weeks ago of Covid-related complications following a long illness.
Anthony’s love of jazz started as a schoolboy trumpeter, when he first heard the great Humphrey Lyttleton and realised that there was more to music than the then narrow version of western classical music taught at Cheltenham College. He and his pianist friend Jim Beach (later famous as manager of Queen) started a band called The Autocrats which basically played the kind of music which its members liked; in Anthony’s case this was traditional Dixieland jazz. This continued when Jim went to Cambridge University while Anthony went to London to read dentistry; the music they made together was so full of infectious fun that Anthony became an honorary member of the Cambridge Footlights, where his gigs included the annual Footlights visit to the Edinburgh Festival alongside fellow-members John Cleese and Eric Idle.
Although Anthony was fully committed to his professional career as a dentist, he ensured that he could always pursue his first love of playing live gigs as often as possible. In the ‘60s the Autocrats became famous on the “society dance-band” scene, gradually recruiting professional musicians to replace school and university friends and building the band up to its normal 9-piece version. (Full disclosure : its only rival was my own band The Dark Blues, a more rock- & pop-oriented outfit. Any society party worth the name in the 60’s and 70’s booked one or other of us, so of course we almost never met. In later years Anthony delighted in telling the story of how The Autocrats lost out to The Dark Blues as the band for Prince Charles’ (as he was) 21st birthday party but turned the tables when he was booked to play for the Queen and Prince Philip’s Ruby Wedding party).
Anthony changed the name to “The 3B Band “ (for third Baron), and then to “The Lord Colwyn Band”. He knew that, as a dance band leader, his job was to fill the floor and keep people dancing, which he did with an eclectic mix of trad jazz, calypso, the occasional pop song and a selection from the movie “The Jungle Book”, featuring “I’m the King of the Swingers” and “Bear Necessities”. He particularly enjoyed singing in the manner of Louis Armstrong until an attack of whooping cough meant that he could no longer imitate the famous growl. But his love of jazz meant that his favourite gigs were jam sessions in a pub, at which his fellow-musicians would play for almost no pay because they were such fun, or the day after a country wedding party when – having stayed somewhere local overnight – the band would re-join the party the following lunchtime and play the jazz they loved for no extra charge.
Anthony and I became friends in later life through our shared love of jazz (mine more of modern jazz than his was, he remained committed to the greats of Dixieland) and our desire to see the cultural establishment give jazz the respect that we both felt it does not get, though things are improving. He was a hard-working Chair of APPJAG (the All-Party Parliamentary Jazz Appreciation Group), energetically promoting its events and awards. He was of course a member of the Musicians’ Union – perhaps the only hereditary Tory peer who was a union member. He spoke regularly in the House of Lords about the importance and value of jazz and was particularly energised by the “two in a bar” legislation which made it so difficult for jazz bands to play in pubs. He was also a founder director of Jazz FM alongside Dave Lee and Sir John Dankworth.
He became a Vice President of NYJO while I was Chair there; he was immensely supportive of the work of NYJO, and always gave a sympathetic ear to its challenges. On a personal note, one of the reasons we bonded was that we both knew that we were not the best players in our respective bands, but we were proud of being the best bandleaders. We both also had professions to which we were equally committed; there was no question that when there was a choice, music came first, but the day-jobs gave each of us a helpful additional perspective and also benefitted enormously from our lives as working musicians.
This is not the place to review Anthony-the-dentist except to say that many musicians were grateful to him for looking after them personally, with a very sympathetic attitude to fees. But the way to remember him is as a fun-loving joyous bandleader, delighting audiences and fellow-band-members with his trumpet-playing, witty announcements, and general air of bonhomie which somehow communicated itself to the entire dance floor or pub where he was playing.
My thoughts and very best wishes go to his widow Nicky Colwyn, who supported Anthony’s musical life so strongly and was always there for him.
Ian Anthony Hamilton-Smith, 3rd Baron Colwyn. Born 1 January 1942. Died 4 August 2024. In sadness.
One Response
So sad to hear of the passing of dear Anthony who was my dentist for many years.My deepest condolences go to Nicky and their family.With much love, Aimi Macdonald.Xxxx